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2.77 AVERAGE
2.77 AVERAGE
I don’t think I’ve ever been so frustrated by a book before. 60 pages in and I could not even begin to explain who any of the characters were or even what the story was about. I read some of the other reviews which describe this book as poetic. I would call it incoherent. I abandoned this at page 66.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Poetic and beautiful
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
‘This fervent, idiosyncratic novel is undeniable evidence of a richly lyrical imagination.’
Kirkus Reviews
‘A homage to the power of story…A tour de force with many inspired and delightful touches…Irresistible.’
Australian
‘Barbery revels in the lavishing of detail…in its many moments of weird lucidity it also beguiles. It’s then that Barbery explores the mystical connections between nature, art and the human heart with vividness and clarity.’
New York Times
‘[A] delightful novel…This mystical fairytale for grown-ups touches on the power of art and nature, and themes of friendship and love—it’s a perfectly enchanting read for a crisp Sunday afternoon by the fire.’
Canberra Weekly
‘There’s much to love about Barbery’s unique prose. Her sentences are long, layered and circuitous…For those who enjoyed Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow Of The Wind or Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, The Life Of Elves will be welcomed and savoured.’
New Zealand Herald
Kirkus Reviews
‘A homage to the power of story…A tour de force with many inspired and delightful touches…Irresistible.’
Australian
‘Barbery revels in the lavishing of detail…in its many moments of weird lucidity it also beguiles. It’s then that Barbery explores the mystical connections between nature, art and the human heart with vividness and clarity.’
New York Times
‘[A] delightful novel…This mystical fairytale for grown-ups touches on the power of art and nature, and themes of friendship and love—it’s a perfectly enchanting read for a crisp Sunday afternoon by the fire.’
Canberra Weekly
‘There’s much to love about Barbery’s unique prose. Her sentences are long, layered and circuitous…For those who enjoyed Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow Of The Wind or Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, The Life Of Elves will be welcomed and savoured.’
New Zealand Herald
I haven't read anything by Muriel Barberry before. But I loved every word in this novel. The prose was glittering, every word dripped with vision and love and splendor. I felt inextricably bound to the characters, as if each person and moment described was being lifted out of my own gutt onto the paper in front of me and recreated through someone else's eye and words.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was… confusing. There were moments of brilliant, beautiful prose that deeply moved me and compelled me to keep reading, but most of the time my face looked like this: 🤨. The plot was so dense and abstract, the characters so varied, that I never at any point understood what was going on. While I did genuinely enjoy Barbery’s poetic descriptions of life, love, and the natural world, I found at the end that I had not enjoyed the novel as a story, so caught up was I in just trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
Burgundy, Italy, and the Pavilion of the Mists, a place of magic, are the two diverse settings for this fantasy where two young girls Clara (human and elf) and Maria (an elf child) fight an evil leader who wants to take over.
Honestly i have no idea what Muriel Barberry is trying to say in this book. In comparison to the elegance of the Hedgehog this is pure drivel dressed up as literature.